LIVEWIRE flanker Josh Afu reckons only three wins in the space of the next week will satisfy Newcastle Falcons.

The all-action back-rower believes the Falcons must stride confidently past Saracens, Gloucester and Harlequins in the space of seven relentless days in order to do themselves justice.

Slamming the 17-13 Kingston Park reverse to Bath in their last Guinness Premiership outing, Tongan loose forward Afu said every Newcastle player knows that now is the time to stop wasting chances.

Admitting the tendency to let gilt-edged chances pass them by has been a season-long affliction, Afu backed the Falcons to make light of their toughest schedule of the campaign.

Steve Bates’ men travel to Watford to take on Saracens on Sunday (kick-off 3pm), before hosting Gloucester at Kingston Park on Wednesday night, with a tough trip to Harlequins then on the immediate horizon on Saturday week.

Undaunted by the challenges ahead, Afu said: “Satisfactory for us would be three wins, it’s as straightforward as that.

“There would have been no point whatsoever in targeting one of the games, hoping to win one specifically and just see what you can do in the other two – that would have been a complete waste of time.

“If you do that then you are admitting defeat before you start, and if we did that we would most likely lose all three games.

“So we’re lining up all three games in the week, and we’re hopeful of winning all three.

“We’re just looking to go out there and play our rugby, focus on ourselves and hopefully that will send us in the right direction.”

Bemoaning the profligacy that has blighted their recent play, Afu said the Falcons must sharpen up – but not let their previous mistakes cloud their progress.

He continued: “We pretty much shot ourselves in the foot against Bath, and that’s a problem that has plagued us for much of the year.

“But that was two weeks ago now. We’ve put it all behind us and we’re just keen to get out there and get on with it.

“There’s no point looking back at Bath, at what the situation could have been, we just have to move forward and get some results.

“Personal skills, personal concentration levels – at times both have been lacking, and if we can sort those things out we’ve got a great set-piece and we can go a long way.

“We’ve shown that in glimpses, but now fits and starts are not enough and we have to tie it all together for the whole game.

“We’ve got a powerful scrum but teams know that and they will always be looking to counteract that.

“So we cannot just rely on that to carry us through. We have to build in the rest of the important elements and make sure we offer a well-rounded game.

“There’s no reason to look back now. It’s done, it’s happened and we have to set about proving to ourselves as much as anyone else that we can live any team and beat any team.

“We’ve got that belief – now we have to go out there and show it on the field.”